087 Pleasantville Dev. v.

Court of Appeals
[G.R. No. 79688. February 1, 1996]
TOPIC: Obligations of the Principal
PONENTE: PANGANIBAN, J.:

AUTHOR: Kelsey
NOTES:

FACTS:
1. Edith Robillo purchased from petitioner a parcel of land designated as Lot 9 at Pleasantville Subdivision, Bacolod City. In
1975, respondent Eldred Jardinico bought the rights to the lot from Robillo. At that time, Lot 9 was vacant.
2. Upon completing all payments, Jardinico secured from the Register of Deeds a TCT in his name. It was then that he
discovered that improvements had been introduced on Lot 9 by respondent Wilson Kee, who had taken possession thereof.
3. It appears Kee bought on installment Lot 8 of the same subdivision from C.T. Torres Enterprises, Inc. (CTTEI), the exclusive
real estate agent of petitioner. Under the Contract to Sell on Installment, Kee could possess the lot even before the completion
of all installment payments.
4. Kee paid CTTEI the relocation fee of P50.00 and another P50.00 for the preparation of the lot plan. These amounts were paid
prior to Kees taking actual possession of Lot 8.
5. After the preparation of the lot plan and a copy thereof given to Kee, CTTEI through its employee, Zenaida Octaviano,
accompanied Kees wife, Donabelle Kee, to inspect Lot 8. Unfortunately, the parcel of land pointed by Octaviano was Lot 9.
6. Thereafter, Kee proceeded to construct his residence, a store, an auto repair shop and other improvements on the lot.
7. After discovering that Lot 9 was occupied by Kee, Jardinico confronted him. The parties tried to reach an amicable settlement,
but failed.
8. Jardinicos lawyer wrote Kee, demanding that the latter remove all improvements and vacate Lot 9. When Kee refused to
vacate Lot 9, Jardinico filed with the MTCC, a complaint for ejectment with damages against Kee. Kee, in turn, filed a third-
party complaint against petitioner and CTTEI.
9. The MTCC held that the erroneous delivery of Lot 9 to Kee was attributable to CTTEI. It further ruled that petitioner and
CTTEI could not successfully invoke as a defense the failure of Kee to give notice of his intention to begin construction
required under paragraph 22 of the Contract to Sell on Installment and his having built a sari-sari store without the prior
approval of petitioner required under paragraph 26 of said contract, saying that the purpose of these requirements was merely
to regulate the type of improvements to be constructed on the lot.
10. However, the MTCC found that petitioner had already rescinded its contract with Kee over Lot 8 for the latters failure to pay
the installments due, and that Kee had not contested the rescission. The rescission was effected in 1979, before the complaint
was instituted. The MTCC concluded that Kee no longer had any right over the lot subject of the contract between him and
petitioner. Consequently, Kee must pay reasonable rentals for the use of Lot 9, and, furthermore, he cannot claim
reimbursement for the improvements he introduced on said lot.

ISSUE(S):
1. Is a lot buyer who constructs improvements on the wrong property erroneously delivered by the owners agent, a builder in
good faith?
HELD:
1. Yes. Kee here merely relied on the act of the agent which had led him to believe that that was his property.
RATIO:

Petitioner fails to persuade this Court to abandon the findings and conclusions of the Court of Appeals that Kee was a builder in good
faith.

The roots of the controversy can be traced directly to the errors committed by CTTEI, when it pointed the wrong property to Wilson
Kee and his wife. It is highly improbable that a purchaser of a lot would knowingly and willingly build his residence on a lot owned by
another, deliberately exposing himself and his family to the risk of being ejected from the land and losing all improvements thereon

Under the circumstances, Kee had acted in the manner of a prudent man in ascertaining the identity of his property. But as Kee is a
layman not versed in the technical description of his property, he had to find a way to ascertain that what was described in TCT No.
69561 matched Lot 8. Thus, he went to the subdivision developers agent and applied and paid for the relocation of the lot, as well as
for the production of a lot plan by CTTEIs geodetic engineer. Upon Kees receipt of the map, his wife went to the subdivision site
accompanied by CTTEIs employee, Octaviano, who authoritatively declared that the land she was pointing to was indeed Lot 8.
Having full faith and confidence in the reputation of CTTEI, and because of the companys positive identification of the property, Kee
saw no reason to suspect that there had been a misdelivery.

At the time he built improvements on Lot 8, Kee believed that said lot was what he bought from petitioner. He was not aware that the
lot delivered to him was not Lot 8. Thus, Kees good faith. Petitioner failed to prove otherwise.

The rule is that the principal is responsible for the acts of the agent, done within the scope of his authority, and should bear the damage
caused to third persons.On the other hand, the agent who exceeds his authority is personally liable for the damage.

CTTEI was acting within its authority as the sole real estate representative of petitioner when it made the delivery to Kee. In acting
within its scope of authority, it was, however, negligent. It is this negligence that is the basis of petitioners liability, as principal of
CTTEI, per Articles 1909 and 1910 of the Civil Code.

Petitioners liability lies in the negligence of its agent CTTEI. For such negligence, the petitioner should be held liable for damages.

CASE LAW/ DOCTRINE:

DISSENTING/CONCURRING OPINION(S):

(If any)